


The Time Steve Rogers Punched A Skeleton

by perfect_plan



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Meddling Friends, a bit of clint and phil, it's all very silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 09:10:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3931183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfect_plan/pseuds/perfect_plan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers has done a lot of stupid things in his life. Punching a fairground worker on the ghost train is definitely one of the stupidest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Time Steve Rogers Punched A Skeleton

"I swear - if another person body slams me, I'm going home," Steve glared after the high schoolers that had just ran by and knocked into him. He had thought that spending the evening at the pier with it's rides and snacks would be enjoyable, but so far he'd had his Slushie knocked out of his hands and onto his sneakers and was amassing an impressive array of bruises from people using him as an unintentional punch bag.

Phil rolled his eyes. "Come on, Steve. Stop being such a grouch. We're at the pier - it's supposed to be fun."

Steve rubbed his arm. "It _would_ be fun if people didn't keep trying to fucking _maim_ me. I know I'm short but I'm not invisible."

Phil put his arm around him. "I know what'll cheer you up - the _ghost train_."

"I've yet to go on _one_ decent ghost train."

"No, this one is really good. I went on it once and it was a riot; the music is awesome and they have really cool animatronics. Please Steve..." Phil gave him his "I'll love you forever" eyes.

Steve sighed and smiled; Phil could be very persuasive. "Fine. Whatever. Let's go on the ghost train."

They had just walked by the ferris wheel when Nat and Sam came trotting up to them.

"There you are," Nat said. She was holding the biggest stuffed panda Steve had ever seen. "We thought we'd lost you over by the hot dog stand."

"Nice panda," Phil said and turned to Sam. "Winning toys for your girl? That's so cute."

Nat looked pissed. "Uh, excuse me - I won this for _myself_. Sam couldn't hit an elephant with a chair if he was standing right in front of it."

"Those rifle games are rigged," Sam said with a sulky frown.

Nat shook her giant panda in his face. "Yeah, right. You keep telling yourself that."

"We're going on the ghost train. Wanna come?" Steve asked.

Sam brightened. "Ooh, yeah! The ghost train here is _awesome_."

Phil gave Steve a smug grin. "See?"

"I already said I'd go on it."

Nat handed Sam her panda and looked down at Steve's feet. "Why are your sneakers blue? I thought they were white."

Steve grunted. "They were but then some asshole ran into me and I dropped my Slushie."

"And he's been complaining about it ever since," Phil said, starting to walk them with determination towards the ghost train.

"My feet are cold and wet. And blue!"

Phil threw his arm across Steve's shoulder and they fell behind the others a little. "What's really up, Rogers?"

Steve sighed. Phil wasn't an idiot; they'd been friends long enough that he knew all too well when something was bothering him. "Tony started seeing someone. I found out yesterday," he said quietly.

Phil's face softened. "Ah. I knew there was something. Was it that much of a shock? You guys broke up like eight months ago."

"I just thought he might have told me himself, you know? But I saw it on Facebook and it kind of hurt."

It hurt more than Steve was admitting; he and Tony had been friends for three years before they had become romantically involved and it had been good in the beginning. They had both been worried that it would be weird but they had been attracted to each other as more than just friends for a long time and decided to give it a shot and it had worked, for a while at least. Then things just...hadn't worked. Steve couldn't even pinpoint what had gone wrong exactly; one day they had been in love and the next they were both sitting on the couch wondering why things didn't feel the same. Their friendship hadn't quite held up after that. When they had graduated from college, Tony had moved across the country to California and it had felt to Steve like he had wanted to be as far away from him as he possibly could.

Up ahead, Nat and Sam were wrestling with the panda and bickering over who should carry it.

"Would you tell _him_ if you were seeing someone?" Phil asked.

Steve stared down at his bright blue sneakers. "I don't know. Probably not."

"I'm sure there's a reason he didn't tell you but you can't expect things to be the way they were. You're not close like that anymore."

"I know," Steve said sadly. "I just thought...we were friends at one point. He doesn't seem to care anymore."

Phil hugged him in as they walked. "I understand, buddy. It's just, things are going to be different between the two of you now. Going from friends to lovers is good and all but it doesn't always work out the other way around."

Steve nodded. "I know."

"I wish I could be more help."

Steve bumped against him. "You've been great, Phil. Really. I'm sorry if I forget to say thanks every now and again." Phil had been a good friend throughout college, both of them majoring in Graphic Design and they had always gotten along well. If not for Phil, Steve's break-up with Tony would have been a lot harder. A year out of college and they were still close, Nat and Sam having joined their circle of friends when they had all met at a party thrown by Phil's workmate Melinda.

"Don't be sorry. Let's just have a good time tonight, okay?" Phil let go of him and smiled. He was a good guy.

"Okay." Steve promised himself that he would try and enjoy the rest of the evening. He didn't want this to become a pity party; he was lonely, he'd be the first to admit that to anyone, but he didn't want to dwell on what Tony was doing now and make himself feel worse.

He could see the ghost train up ahead and it looked pretty impressive, he had to admit. The outside was constructed to appear a bit like an oversized version of the cabin from The Evil Dead but with various ghouls and nasties hanging from the roof. ENTER IF YOU DARE was smeared across the windows in red paint meant to look like blood. A life-sized Jason Voorhees was smashing his way through the front door, machete in hand.

Steve turned to Phil to ask him if they all wanted to go to Carter's - their favorite bar - afterwards for a few beers but stopped when he saw the slightly lovesick look on Phil's face directed at the ghost train. He was quick to hide it when Steve noticed and glanced away towards the skee ball lanes, feigning interest. Steve brightened and tried to hold back a smirk when he saw what...no, not what, _who_ Phil had been looking at. The guy manning the ticket booth had short sandy hair and a tight purple t-shirt that showed off some pretty impressive arms. He was leaning against the side of the control panel for the cars eating a slice of pizza.

Steve elbowed Phil in the ribs. "Okay, _now_ I know why you were so insistent about going on the ghost train." He snickered.

Phil flushed red across his cheeks and nose. "I have no idea what you could possibly be talking about."

"He's cute," Steve said with a grin. "I didn't know you had a thing for carnies."

"He's not a carnie, his name's - " Phil stopped when he realized he'd just given the game away and Steve laughed and clapped. He groaned quietly. "His name's Clint and he's an English major."

"Ooh, a younger man? You cradle snatcher."

Phil grimaced. "He's like two years younger than us. That's _not_ cradle snatching."

Steve rolled his eyes. "I'm kidding, Phil."

"Just...don't tell the others. They'll make a big thing."

Steve giggled delightedly. "So you know him? How long has this been going on"

Phil looked furtive. "I kind of know him. I've...been trying to work up the courage to ask him out." They were getting closer and Clint looked up, quickly shoving the last of the pizza into his mouth and wiping his hands on a napkin when he saw there were customers. Phil gave Steve a quick look. "Not a word, okay?"

"Do you think we can take this on with us?" Nat asked, holding up the giant panda.

Clint smiled when he saw Phil. "Hey dude, back for more? You sure like this ride."

Steve watched as the back of Phil's neck turned bright red. "Heh, yeah. I had to get my friends to see how awesome it was."

They handed over the five bucks each it cost to ride and Nat and Sam started to clamber into the back seats of the car, squishing the stuffed panda in-between them.

Steve leaned in and whispered to Phil as they climbed into the front seats. "You said you'd only been on this ride once. So how many times have you _really_ been on this thing?"

Phil clenched his jaw. "Maybe four times in the last week..."

Steve snorted and Phil shot him a death-stare.

Clint checked the safety bars on both sets of seats and his hand accidentally brushed Phil's. "Oops, sorry." Clint flashed him a smile and Phil laughed nervously. Steve turned away to hide his grin. Nat and Sam were still distracted by the huge cuddly toy and thankfully hadn't noticed.

"Okay, dudes. Stay inside the car at all times and try not to wave your limbs about too much. We got some gruesome ghouls running around in there that wouldn't hesitate to take a bite out of you and I'd rather you all came back with your appendages intact." He grinned at Phil. "Also, there are flashing lights inside - just a warning." He smiled again, gave them all a thumbs up and went over to the control panel.

"Oh my god, he was totally flirting with you!" Steve whispered to Phil. "He was talking about your appendages."

"Steve, _shut up_..." Phil hissed back.

Steve smiled again; even if his own love-life was in a shambles, at least Phil had some excitement going on and despite his teasing, Steve was happy for him.

The car jerked and started to move along the track towards the entrance. Nat and Sam immediately made "ooh" noises.

Clint leaned against the ticket booth and gave them a wave. "Have fun!"

The doors to the inside of the ghost train opened and the car trundled in, running along the tracks before the doors slammed closed behind them, enveloping them in darkness. Dramatic music started to play and Steve frowned and squirmed in his seat. This wasn't going to be scary. It was a lame-ass ghost train at the pier; it _couldn't_ be scary.

"What's this music from?" he asked Phil.

"The Omen. It's so cool - they have different scary movie music playing every time which is a nice touch. Last time, it was the main theme from Halloween." Phil sounded excited and Steve couldn't tell whether it was because of the ride or the obvious flirting from Clint.

He was about to ask Phil something else when there was a loud bang to their left and several animatronic zombies burst out of the wall, guts hanging out and loud screaming shrieked from the speakers, the reverb slightly painful.

"Holy shit!" Steve said. Yeah, so this was a little freakier than he had thought it would be. There was a cold blast to his right and he jerked into Phil as several glow in the dark images lit up the wall. They looked like runes or something. Nat shrieked delightedly as cockroaches started to skitter alongside them. They were obviously projected but they looked a little too real to Steve.

"What the hell are - " Steve began but he was cut off when tentacles dropped down from the ceiling and brushed against his head. He maybe screamed a little louder and a little less manly than he would have liked.

Sam laughed behind him. "Getting a little scared, Steve?"

Steve pawed at his neck, certain that something was crawling on it. "You didn't mention that this ride was so interactive," he said to Phil.

The car trundled into a small graveyard and there were dummies of emaciated corpses on the floor. Dry ice floated lazily along the ground like fog and a tomb started to open slowly, a gnarled and decomposing hand reaching out. Steve thought he saw a shape duck behind one of the tombs at the back of the graveyard but there was so much going on, it could have been anything.

"Ew, gross," Sam said as they passed a slightly jerky crow pulling an eyeball out of a severed head.

A little further along and there were several coffins lined up to look like they'd been pushed up out of the ground. The lids flew open with a bang as they passed and rubber corpses covered in tattered clothing lolled out.

"Ha! This is like the end of Poltergeist!" Nat said gleefully.

"I hate that movie," Steve muttered, remembering the scene with the clown doll. He hoped there weren't any scary clowns in here.

They passed through some kind of science lab with a Frankenstein's monster strapped to a table and a couple of wonky Tesla coils and then the car continued on through to a stretch of track made to look like a corridor in a mansion. Strobe lights started to flicker and various monsters started to pop out of the walls - a werewolf, a vampire, a Hannibal Lector type character in a straight jacket and mask. Nat and Sam started to coo. The effect was pretty creepy and Steve was trying to figure out how they'd got it to look this good to distract himself from how freaked out he actually was when he saw a dark figure dart across the track up ahead.

"Did you see that?" he said to Phil; that hadn't looked like a puppet.

"See what?" Phil said. "Oh hey look, the werewolf's fly is open!"

The ride was suddenly plunged into darkness and the music stopped. They all giggled nervously and then Nat suddenly screamed behind them.

"What? What is it?" Sam said and Steve could hear that he was slightly freaked out.

"Something touched my hair! There's someone in here that isn't a robot!"

"Oh, hell no," Sam muttered and he sounded like he was looking around frantically. "I do _not_ want to be groped in the dark."

"I _thought_ I saw something up ahead," Steve said and the ride jerked forward again, still in darkness. New music started to blare from the slightly tinny speaker system and Steve winced as the high-pitched notes, ominous and discordant, started to build up a sense of real dread in him and he laughed nervously to cover up his fear; he couldn't believe that a cheesy ghost train was getting to him so much. The car jerked to another stop.

Steve tried to sound bored. "Let me guess, something's going to jump out and - "

Suddenly, there was a hand on Steve's shoulder. He turned to look and there was a grinning white skull a few inches from his face.

"Boo," the skull said, low and gritty.

Steve screamed, half in genuine surprise, half in abject terror and before he knew what he was doing, he swung his left arm around as hard as he could. His fist connected with the skull with a dull "thwack" and there was a muffled cry of surprise and pain. The car started to move again and Steve watched as the skull, very much attached to a person wearing a glow-in-the-dark skeleton outfit, clutched at their head and staggered back against the wall.

"Fuck, Steve! What did you do?!" Sam cried out, breaking into hysterical laughter. Nat craned her head back to see but the car turned a corner on the ride track.

"Oh crap, I think I just punched someone," Steve said, mortified.

The car burst through a set of double doors and they were back outside again, slowing down to a stop next to the ticket booth. Sam, Nat and Phil were all laughing loudly as Steve rubbed his hand and glanced worriedly behind him.

Clint smiled as he pressed the release button for the safety bar on the car. "Sounds like you all had a good time," he said.

Phil was covering his mouth as he tried not to laugh any harder and Nat and Sam scrabbled out of the back of the car with their giant panda, gasping for breath between bouts of laughter.

Steve stumbled frantically up to Clint. "I'm so sorry! I totally punched a skeleton in there and I don't think it was an animatronic one."

Clint's eyes widened. "You _punched_ the skeleton?" He glanced over to Phil. "He punched the skeleton?"

Phil nodded. "It sounded like it hurt."

"It took me by surprise! I just acted on instinct!" Steve babbled. "I'm so sorry, please tell whoever it was that I didn't mean it."

Clint let out a loud braying laugh and then composed himself. He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a walkie-talkie. He cleared his throat and pressed down on the button.

"James? Could you come out to the ticket office please? Over." He sounded serious and professional when he spoke but he was grinning.

There was a crackle on the walkie-talkie and a pissed-off sounding voice replied, "Dude, I just got _assaulted_!"

Steve squeaked and looked at Phil. "I didn't assault anyone! It was an accident!"

Clint rolled his eyes. "It was an accident," he echoed Steve. "The guy is out here now and wants to apologize to you. And you're meant to say _over_ when you're done speaking, _James_. Over."

The walkie-talkie crackled again. "Fine, I'm on my way, _asshole_. Over and out," the voice replied, through gritted teeth by the sounds of it.

Clint tucked the walkie-talkie back into his jeans and folded his arms. "James will be out momentarily; he's our resident skeleton."

"He sounded kind of angry," Phil said.

Nat quickly dug her phone out of her purse and started to tap frantically on it. "Oh my God, I have to get a picture of this. Steve might be fighting a skeleton."

Steve made a terrified noise.

Clint held up his hands. "No-one will be fighting anyone. We're all grown ups here."

A smaller door to the side of the exit doors, concealed behind a sheet of fake cobwebs, clattered open and the skeleton from inside the ghost train walked out, one hand up to his face. The guy had decided not to take his mask off and Nat and Sam immediately dissolved into another round of hysterical laughter as he walked along the track still in full costume and glared at him - Steve assumed, he couldn't see James's eyes - and stopped next to Clint.

"I'm so sorry," Steve said. "I...you surprised me is all. I really didn't mean to hit you."

The guy just grunted and continued to rub his jaw. Steve heard Nat snap a couple of pictures. Sam was snorting as he tried desperately not to laugh.

Clint glanced at the guy next to him and gave him a hard elbow in the ribs. "Well? This customer just politely apologized to you. Don't be a dick."

James growled at Clint and then turned back to Steve. "Whatever," he mumbled. "Can I go and get some ice now, please? This is really painful." He was definitely shooting evils at Steve now.

Clint sighed. "Yeah, sure. Get me a hotdog while you're at it."

James stalked off and Clint offered Steve an apologetic shrug; at least the whole thing hadn't escalated any further.

Steve turned to Nat and Sam, the humiliation finally defeating him. "That's it, I'm done with the pier. This was a perfect end to a perfect day."

Nat threw her arms around Steve's neck. "You're our little ghoul fighter. Protecting us from guys in spandex outfits." She planted a big kiss on his cheek and Sam laughed as Steve twisted out of her grasp.

"You guys can do what you want but I'm going home." He started to walk away and ignored the jovial protests from Sam and Nat as they hoisted up the giant panda between them and followed him. Steve realized halfway over to the carousel that Phil wasn't with them and turned to look for him. He finally saw him walking over to them looking flushed and with a big grin on his face.

"What are you so happy about?" Steve grumbled as they headed towards the exit.

"I got Clint's number," Phil answered. "You need to punch skeletons on the ghost train more often."

***

Steve was one of those people who, if he did something stupid, would think about it for days after; worrying over every little detail and reliving the embarrassment again and again. Freaking out and punching an amusement park worker had definitely made it to the top of his list of Stupid Things Steve Did And Will Stew Over Forever and the for the next two days, he would suddenly remember the whole debacle again and groan loudly to himself. Nat texted him one of the photos she had snapped - him looking mortified as James The Skeleton stood before him, one hand to his jaw, his body language defensive with a text reading "This is now my phone wallpaper. This is the best picture in the world." Steve had deleted the picture and sent her a "fuck you" back, but she just attached the photo to every subsequent text until Steve just left it on his phone.

On day three, he wasn't thinking about it as much - distracted mainly by a new job to design a limited edition t-shirt for some band he'd never heard of - and when he did think about it, the incident had finally dulled his reaction down to a facial wince rather than the head-desk it had been.

He was in the kitchen grabbing himself a snack that afternoon when Phil called. "Hey Phil," he said with a mouthful of sliced apple and peanut butter.

"Hey Steve. Ugh, if you're going to eat while you're on the phone to me at least don't crunch right in my ear."

Steve laughed and wiped his mouth, taking his plate back to his desk. "Sorry. My mouth is now clear. How's it going?"

Phil sighed. "I'm bored out of my mind. Garrett has me and Melinda working on a bunch of flyers for a gym and he's being so anal about the design it's unreal. We can't do anything creative at all. I feel like ramming my head into the wall."

"I still don't see why you and Melinda can't start your own graphic design studio. You don't need that asshole."

Phil dropped his voice. "We're seriously considering it. Melinda's friend Leo has some studio space that we might be able to rent but - " There was silence for a few seconds and Steve knew that Garrett must be close by. He crunched on another piece of apple and waited.

"Okay, sorry about that. Look, I'll tell you about it later but right now I have even _better_ news."

Steve toggled the color levels of his design in Photoshop, trying to see what worked best, red or orange. He totally wasn't feeling this job. "Oh yeah?"

"Yep. Clint invited me to a party at his apartment on Friday night."

Steve grinned. "Way to go! Although I will fully take the credit for you getting his number. All it cost me was my dignity."

"He said I could invite some friends. Nat and Sam are busy but you're my wingman anyway," Phil said and Steve could hear the pleading in his voice.

Steve sighed. "Sure, why not. I'm less likely to screw up at a party where I can sit out of the way and hopefully not end up punching someone."

"Awesome! I'll swing by at seven and pick you up. You never know - the man of your dreams might be there waiting for you to meet him."

Steve thought about Tony and smiled sadly. "Yeah, maybe."

***

"Wow, check you out," Steve said with a big smile when Phil came to his apartment on Friday night. He looked great.

"Do I look okay? I'm so nervous..." Phil pulled at the collar of his shirt and patted his hair.

Steve grabbed his black Converse - his white ones were still stained blue - and sat down on his futon to pull them on. "Phil, you look really nice. And why are you nervous? Clint's obviously into you."

" _That's_ why I'm nervous." He sniffed under his arms. "Dammit, have you got any deodorant I can use?"

"In the bedroom," Steve said and Phil jogged off down the hall. He heard the hiss of his spray deodorant and smiled as he pulled on his jacket; Phil was usually so calm and reserved. It was kind of adorable to see him getting so worked up.

Phil came back into the living room. "Thanks Steve. I'm sweating like a _pig_. I really like this guy, I don't want to screw anything up."

"Phil, you'll be fine. I'm the screw up, remember? You didn't punch a guy dressed up as a skeleton and get all piney for the boyfriend you know you'll never get back." Steve hadn't meant to let slip the last bit but he was still feeling a little sorry for himself.

Phil sat next to Steve on the couch. "I'm sorry dude. I've been so caught up with myself this week. How are you? Did you hear from Tony at all?"

Steve rested his elbows on his knees and stared down at the floor. "No. I almost sent him a message but...what would be the point? I think it's time to accept that we're not part of each other's lives anymore."

Phil pulled Steve into a hug. "You know it's not your fault, right?"

Steve hugged back, grateful for the contact and then broke away. "I know." He managed a smile. "Come on. Your hot carnie awaits."

***

Clint's apartment was a 10 minute cab ride away and it already sounded pretty busy as they walked down the hall towards the front door. Steve was glad that he'd agreed to come out tonight; he'd thrown himself into his work after graduation and hadn't been all that social for a while. Although if the skeleton punching incident at the pier was anything to go by then it was probably a good thing that Steve didn't get out too often.

Phil knocked on the door, nervously adjusting his shirt and Clint answered a minute later, smiling wide and bright when he saw who it was. There were around twenty people at the party, crammed into the small apartment but the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly. Steve started to think he might actually have a good time tonight.

"Hey Phil! Come on in." Clint stepped aside to let Phil pass and smiled even wider when he saw Steve. "And Ghost Puncher! Good to see you, dude."

Steve gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Hi. I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

Clint laughed and gave Steve a friendly thump on the arm. "I promise I won't keep bringing it up. So, here you are." He gave Phil a big smile.

Phil nodded and smiled back. "Yep. Here we are."

"Okay, everyone's pretty friendly so don't feel like you have to sit around and be all shy or anything," Clint said. "Oh hey, you guys haven't met my roommate yet have you?" Before Steve or Phil could answer, Clint turned around and yelled towards the kitchen. "Hey Bucky!"

A guy with short dark brown hair sauntered out of the kitchen and headed towards them and Steve tried not to stare too hard; he was the _prettiest_ guy Steve had ever seen and he didn't use that word a lot. Holy shit, those eyes. Steve had a thing for dark hair but dark hair and light eyes? That was his ultimate weakness. He tried to stand up a little straighter, hoping to appear taller than 5'4. As Bucky approached them, his gaze fell on Steve and his eyes narrowed a little.

"Buck, this is Phil and Steve," Clint said with a grin.

Phil raised a hand in greeting but he was too distracted by Clint to pay much attention to how Bucky was watching Steve.

"Yeah, hi," Bucky said and Steve was confused by the look that he was throwing in his direction. It seemed a little...hostile?

"Nice to meet you," Steve said, hoping that he sounded pleasant.

Bucky rested his hands on his hips. "I gotta say, for a little guy you throw a hell of a punch."

Steve frowned and glanced at Clint but he was already leading Phil away towards the kitchen, talking and possibly flirting. Steve looked back at Bucky, noticing the fading dark bruise on the side of his face and he suddenly wanted to crawl under the nearest table. It was James The Skeleton.

"I would shake your hand but I'm worried that you might punch me again," Bucky said unsmiling.

"Look, that was an accident. I'm really sorry," Steve said and he could feel his face start to heat up.

Bucky folded his arms. "So do you also go around punching vampires and werewolves? Maybe a Frankenstein or two? Or do you just have something against skeletons?" He still looked and sounded like he wasn't joking.

Steve could take being made fun of from his friends because he knew they meant well and he could give as good as he got too but there was something distinctly not good-humoured about the way James/Bucky was goading him, like he was _trying_ to make him angry. And it was working.

Steve's face hardened and he lowered his voice. "I can only apologize so many times."

"And then what? You'll punch me again?"

Steve let out an exasperated sigh; what was _with_ this guy? "I'm going to find Phil. Nice meeting you. Oh, and there's no such thing as _a_ Frankenstein. It's Frankenstein's monster." He brushed by Bucky and headed to the kitchen.

"I guess you would know," Bucky called after him. "Being the big monster bashing expert and all."

Clint and Phil were both leaning on the kitchen counter talking to each other. Clint looked up as Steve walked in, angrily grabbing a beer from the ice bucket on the table.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Your roommate is a dick," Steve said, flipping off the top of the beer and taking a long irritated chug.

Clint sighed and gave Phil an apologetic look. "Don't go anywhere, okay?" He rested a hand on Steve's shoulder and patted it as he passed by. "One sec."

Steve watched as he hurried out of the kitchen and through to the living room where Bucky was frowning at his phone and jabbing violently at the keypad with his thumbs. Clint walked up to him and made a quiet "what the hell" motion with his arms to which Bucky replied with angry finger pokes and a face full of venom. Phil came and stood by Steve watching with him, neither of them able to hear what Clint and Bucky were saying to each other over the music but it didn't look good.

"What's all that about?" Phil asked, a small frown on his face.

"That's the skeleton I punched," Steve said.

Phil sucked in a breath. "Oh. Yikes. I had no idea he was Clint's roommate. I take it he's still mad about the punching?" They both watched as Bucky pointed accusingly at Clint one last time and stormed off to what Steve assumed was his room, slamming the door behind him. A few people were watching and Clint said something to them with a shrug and headed back to the kitchen.

"Dude, I'm so sorry about that. I...uh, probably should have mentioned that he was my roomie. James...Bucky, he's a really good guy. But he's...going through some shit at the moment. I kind of made a bad judgement call on something and I think he took it out on you. My bad." Clint looked genuinely unhappy. Steve didn't have the heart to be mad at Clint; he got the feeling that the guy had meant well in whatever it was that he had been going for.

"You're not the one who should be apologizing," Steve said, not really in the party mood anymore.

"Yeah, I don't think he's coming back out."

Steve tried to smile. "It's no big deal. Um, I think I'll go and talk to some people." Not wanting to be a third wheel, he wandered into the living room, hoping he wouldn't spend all evening by himself. He didn't want to crowd Phil and Clint, especially since it was pretty obvious that they liked each other and even if things had fallen flat for him, he didn't want to ruin any chance they might have.

He glanced in the direction of Bucky's room, annoyance flaring up in him again. Steve wasn't a bad person, he hadn't done what he'd done on purpose and he had apologized several times. Bucky or James or whatever the fuck his name was had been the prick. Steve turned away and a girl with silky dark hair standing over by the window smiled at him.

"Hi. Are you one of Clint's friends?"

Steve smiled back and joined her. "Uh, kind of I guess? I came with my friend Phil. He knows Clint."

The girl's eyes lit up. "Oh awesome! Clint has been talking about Phil non-stop for like a week." She leaned closer, conspiratorial, even though no-one would hear them over the music anyway. "He pretty much threw this party just as an excuse to get him here."

Steve laughed. "Why didn't he just ask him out?"

The girl gave a huge shrug. "Because he's an idiot? I'm Kate. I'm one of Clint's roommates."

Steve grinned and held out his hand. "I'm Steve."

Kate squinted for a moment as she shook and then started to laugh. "Oh my god, are you the guy who punched Bucky at the pier?"

Steve sighed and nodded. "Yes. Yes I am."

Kate clinked her beer bottle against Steve's. "Kudos, my friend. I wondered why he looked so pissed off earlier."

"Yeah, I don't think he wants to accept my many apologies."

"I wouldn't take it to heart," Kate said. "He's going through some crap with his ex. I'm 99% sure it's nothing personal."

Steve grunted. "Still, there was no need to be so rude."

"You just caught him on a bad few days. And you did punch him while he was wearing spandex." Kate laughed when Steve started to protest _again_. "Dude, I'm kidding. Honestly, when Clint told me I could _not_ stop laughing. I kind of wish I could have been there."

Steve took his phone out of his back pocket and found Nat's photo. "Here's the next best thing."

Kate took Steve's phone and instantly burst out laughing, crumpling slightly where she stood. "Oh wow. _Wow_."

Steve managed a smile. "I guess I would find it funny if James...uh, Bucky did. I feel bad that a guy I don't even know hates me."

Kate handed Steve back his phone and gave him a sympathetic smile. "It's not _really_ my place to say but I'll go ahead and tell you so you're not beating yourself up over this but Bucky's ex is a _dick_. They were going to move in together and about a week before, Brock called Bucky and told him he'd been cheating on him and was moving in with this other guy instead. He dumped him over the phone. That was four months ago and he's still trying to get money out of Bucky for an apartment he's not even living in. Then he gets punched at work - a job he's doing as a favour for Clint, - and then Clint, in not the greatest of moves, throws a last minute party to try and woo his crush and kind of forgot to tell Bucky until this afternoon. He hasn't had a great few weeks and I'm sure seeing you was just a reminder of that and yeah, maybe he was a little rude. I _will_ talk to him about that but he's a really fantastic guy, truly."

Steve frowned. "Oh. I didn't know all that." He felt bad then. His break-up with Tony had hurt but at least there had been no vitriol.

Kate shrugged. "That's why I told you. Like I said, I'm pretty sure it's nothing personal. You seem like a decent guy and I'm sure when Bucky is in a better head space, he'll realize it."

"Well, I wouldn't count on him ever wanting to see me again."

Kate smiled. "You never know."

"I'm going to hastily change the subject away from me punching people. What are you studying?"

Steve spent the next two hours talking to Kate and actually ended up having a nice time; she was hilarious and he soon forgot about Bucky and let himself enjoy the party. Clint and Phil spent the better part of the evening sticking close together, talking quietly and Steve managed to persuade a slightly tipsy Phil to head home just after midnight.

"Bye Steve," Kate said. "Here, give me your number. We should totally meet up for coffee at some point."

Steve handed her his phone with a grin. "That would be really nice."

He grabbed their jackets and waited while Clint and Phil danced around each other for a few minutes. Kate was watching from her perch over by the window and made WTF gestures to Steve. He smothered a smile as Clint awkwardly darted towards Phil and kissed him on the cheek. Phil flushed what could only be described as puce and waved goodbye as he and Steve left the apartment.

"So it went well?" Steve asked when they were out on the street.

"I think so."

"Phil, he kissed you!"

Phil smiled and hailed a cab. "Um. Did you see Bucky again?"

Steve sighed, thinking about what Kate had told him. "No. Let's just forget about him. Want to grab some pizza? I'm starving. Beer always makes me really hungry."

***

Steve actually _did_ forget about Bucky for the next few days; work suddenly got very busy and he didn't have much time to think about anything including Tony and both Bucky encounters for which he was grateful. Things were starting to wind down by Thursday and he got a text from Kate, surprised and pleased that she'd actually got in touch.

 **KATE:** Hey Steve! Was awesome to hang out with you at Clint's lame party. Want to grab a coffee tomorrow?

Steve smiled. If anything, at least he'd made a new friend after the weirdness of the last couple of weeks.

 **STEVE:** Hi Kate. Sure! I'd love to. I'll let you choose when and where :)

They agreed on a small coffee place a few blocks away and Steve got back to work, cheerier than he had been for a while.

 

***

Steve turned up early to the coffee place on Friday, glad to be outside after having been cooped up in his apartment all week. It was a nice day and he was looking forward to hanging out with Kate. Nat had finally stopped teasing him about the whole ghost train thing and they were meeting for dinner later on - Sam was out of town with Riley, an old college pal - and he hummed softly to himself as he waited on the sidewalk, daydreaming.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?" Steve turned and immediately felt his defences go into overdrive. It was Bucky, standing a few feet from him, eyes narrowed and jaw set. "Are you _stalking_ me?"

What the hell? Couldn't Steve get a single break? He never should have gone on that stupid ghost train. Now Bucky was _haunting_ him.

"No!" Steve exclaimed angrily. "Get over yourself. I'm meeting a friend and I don't live too far from here and - oh you know what? I don't have to explain myself to you." He folded his arms and turned away, suddenly feeling like he was twelve instead of twenty-four and like he should really be the bigger man.

Bucky made a series of irritated noises. "That friend wouldn't happen to be Kate, would it?"

Steve turned back to him, his anger subsiding a little. Bucky looked slightly less pissed off with him and then realization hit. "Yeah. Let me guess, you're supposed to be meeting her too?"

Bucky nodded and scrunched up his mouth. "Fucking...her and Clint are just like..." He made fists with his hands and let rip a string of colorful expletives.

Steve took his phone out of his back pocket. "Well, I agree with you on that." He tapped out a text.

 **STEVE:** Really? What the actual fuck??

A few seconds later, Kate replied. She must have been lying in wait for either Steve or Bucky to send her a message.

 **KATE:** Oh, come on. How could I not? Everything that's happened between you guys is straight out of a rom-com. This was the next logical step. Also, Clint said he'd make me dinner for a week if I set you two up.

Steve just sighed and put his phone away. "I hate everyone," he mumbled to himself.

They both stood in silence for a moment. Steve wasn't really sure what to do and was about to say a prickly goodbye and leave when Bucky awkwardly cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry I was such a dick to you at Clint's party. I was angry about a ton of other stuff and I took it out on you and I'm sorry." He was staring down at the sidewalk as he spoke but Steve could hear the genuine apology in his voice. He looked very unhappy and a little confused and Steve could relate - he'd been feeling that way himself a lot lately; he thought that this was part of the real Bucky coming out and he didn't have it in him to be angry anymore.

"It's okay," Steve replied. "I'm really sorry I punched you."

"You already said sorry."

"I know."

"Like a million times and I ignored you."

Steve shrugged. "It's okay."

"Kate said you were really nice."

Steve glanced at Bucky and he looked as though he was willing to give him a chance. He thought about what both Clint and Kate had said about Bucky being a great guy; true, he hadn't seen it yet but then they _had_ met with Steve socking him on the jaw. Maybe he should try and give Bucky a chance too.

"She said you were a really great guy."

Bucky's face softened and he rolled his eyes with fondness. "She's an idiot." He indicated to the coffee shop. "Well, I'm going to go inside and get a drink. If you happened to be going in there too and ended up sitting at the same table as me...that wouldn't be awful."

Steve considered for a moment; he could go home and carry on with the band t-shirt project - he'd been putting it off all week - or he could stay and have coffee with Bucky. "Alright. I promise I'll keep my fists away from your face."

Bucky's mouth quirked up into a little smile. "Thank you."

They went inside and ordered and found a table together. Bucky seemed to relax a little and Steve settled back in his chair.

"I have to ask - how did you end up working at the pier?"

Bucky grunted and dipped his finger into the foam on his mocha. "Clint used to operate the ghost train on his own but they had a bunch of drunk frat boys keep going in and running around the place. They figured out a way to get the safety bars unlocked on the cars. They didn't wreck anything but it was kind of fucking everything up so Clint asked me to be like...security I guess. Just make sure that people weren't getting out of the cars and shit."

"Oh, I thought you were _meant_ to be part of the ride. You pulled my friend's hair and then scared me."

"Heh, yeah. I was getting bored. Technically, I don't think I should have been doing all of that but it seemed to make the ride a little more popular. I started to jump out at different points on the ride and scare the shit out of people and word got around. The boss was happy about the new influx of business and gave Clint a raise and I got a little more money out of it too. It helps with the bills and stuff - I didn't start college until I was twenty-two so I missed out on a lot of financial stuff that could have made things easier for me. It's not something I want to do for a living, especially now that there's a possibility I could get beat up if I scare the wrong person."

Steve glanced at him but Bucky was smiling and it made him look completely different, warm and inviting and...Steve couldn't help but smile back. "That's a risk I guess."

Bucky smirked. "So what do you do when you're not out fighting creatures of the night?"

"I'm a designer. Logos and shit. Some other stuff. Not terribly exciting. I do a lot of stuff for bands - t-shirt designs, some sleeve art."

Bucky seemed kind of impressed. "Anything I might know?"

Steve shrugged. "Nah, mostly a lot of unsigned bands or up-and-comers that don't quite up-and-come. I'm doing a t-shirt design for a band I've never heard of at the moment called Winter's Children."

Bucky gave him a look. "You're kidding."

Steve shook his head. "No?"

"Winter's Children are _really_ good; they do all this crazy 80s sounding electro. I've seem them live a couple of times. Have to say though, their logo sucks."

Steve laughed. "Well, I didn't design that one. I've been struggling a little with the commission for them. Maybe I'll actually listen to their stuff for some inspiration." He took a sip of his coffee. "Um, Kate told me about your ex. I'm sorry things have been bad for you."

Bucky grunted. "Figures she would have blabbed. She also chewed me out for being rude to you."

Steve pushed some grains of sugar on the table around with his finger. "I know why now though. Sounds like you had a shitty week."

"Yeah, but it's gotten a little better." He smiled at Steve and it was somehow forgiving, embarrassed and cute all at once. "You're not so bad."

Steve laughed. "Thanks?"

Bucky fiddled with his hair a little. "The whole ex thing - he's a dick who's still somehow managing to manipulate me. I'm finally cutting him loose."

"I can kind of relate to that," Steve said softly.

"Yeah?"

Steve hummed. "I broke up with my ex over eight months ago and found out that he's seeing someone else. Kind of been thinking about it too much. I need to cut that thread too."

Bucky huffed out a breath. "Ex boyfriend's suck."

"Yep. I was thinking about becoming a monk."

Bucky chuckled and finished the last of his coffee. "Well, I have to book. Some of us have to dress up in nothing-to-the-imagination spandex and make sure that drunk frat boys don't puke in a foam coffin."

"Gross," Steve said with a grin.

Bucky stood up and then hesitated. "Maybe...we could do this again sometime. If you wanted."

"I...sure. Why not," Steve said and stood up, holding out his hand. He wasn't sure why he did it; maybe as a final peace offering, maybe just to be polite. But he couldn't deny the slight thrill that ran through him when Bucky took his hand and shook it, looking at Steve curiously with a little half grin on his face.

"Bye Steve," he finally said and walked out.

***

It wasn't until he was getting ready to go out and meet Nat for dinner that he realized that he didn't even have Bucky's number. He had sounded sincere when he asked if Steve wanted to maybe meet up again and despite everything that had happened - this had definitely been the _weirdest_ fucking couple of weeks of Steve's life - he thought he maybe wanted to get to know Bucky a little better.

It was worth everything that had happened to watch Nat almost choke on her wine when he told her who he had met up with that afternoon.

***

Steve didn't think about Tony at all over the next few days, partly because he was still busy with work but mostly because he kept thinking about Bucky. Maybe about how he wouldn't mind seeing Bucky in his spandex skeleton outfit again.

***

 **PHIL:** Okay, me and Clint are officially a thing :) :) :)

 **STEVE:** OMG Since when?? :D

 **PHIL:** Like three minutes ago :P

 **STEVE:** And you HAD to tell me rather than make out with your hot new boyfriend?

 **PHIL:** It's thanks to you that he's my hot new boyfriend so I felt you had to know as soon as possible. And who says we're not making out right now?

 **STEVE:** Congrats :D Say hi to Clint for me and ew, don't text me while you're doing god knows what

 **PHIL:** He says hi. Guess who's been asking all sorts of things about you, very unsubtly?

 **STEVE:** Dare I ask?

 **PHIL:** Kate is going to text you

 **STEVE:** Is she watching you two make out? 0_0

 **KATE:** Okay, so Bucky will not stop talking about you

 **STEVE:** What is going on?! Are you all in the same room talking about me?

 **KATE:** Shush. He keeps asking Phil things and it's really cute and he thinks he's being all stealth about it and he's totally not. Do you want to see him again?

 **STEVE:** Yes but I don't have his number

 **KATE:** Oh, he just walked in! Hang on...

 **STEVE:** Kate, wait a sec

 **KATE:** OMG he's gone bright red. He wants to see you again too

 **STEVE:** What is happening

 **KATE:** Clint and Phil are in hysterics, Bucky looks angry

 **BUCKY:** So apparently we're meeting up again? I have no idea what's going on and I apologize so hard. I live with a bunch of pricks

 **STEVE:** It's okay, my friends are all pricks too

 **BUCKY:** I'm so sorry

 **STEVE:** Honestly, it's fine :) So, are we meeting up or what?

 **BUCKY:** Um, yes :)

 **KATE:** YAY! You're friends now!

 **STEVE:** What the hell

 **BUCKY:** Kate, fuck off

 **PHIL:** Why are Kate and Bucky shouting at each other and texting each other at the same time?

 **STEVE:** I don't know who I'm even sending messages to any more, I'm so confused

 **CLINT:** If I accidentally send a dick pic to everyone, please know that it was only meant for one person

 **STEVE:** Ew

 **BUCKY:** FFS Clint

 **KATE:** I'm blocking you

 **PHIL:** :D

 

***

"I listened to Winter's Children," Steve said a week later as he and Bucky were walking through Central Park.

"Oh yeah? What did you think?"

"They're really cool. Their stuff would totally fit on the Hotline Miami soundtrack. I actually scrapped my original tee design and re-drew it all. They liked it a lot. I maybe should have listened to their album in the first place."

Bucky threw him a smug smile. "I accept Paypal or credit card payments for all suggestions of mine that lead to your success."

"Will you take a cup of coffee and a cinnamon bagel as a deposit?"

"Hmmm, okay. It's a start."

Steve shouldn't have been that surprised to find out that Bucky really _was_ a great guy. Kate and Clint had both told him so and while Bucky was snarky (but no more than Steve himself could be) and made fun of how short he was (Steve made fun of Bucky's skinny jeans and chicken legs), things seemed easy with him and Steve enjoyed spending time with him. They had met up a few times for lunch or coffee over the last week, the others actually backing off a little (but then Sam and Nat found out and Steve was back in for a fresh round of teasing for a few days) and letting them have room to breathe. Bucky laughed at Steve's jokes and listened with interest about his work and smiled at him a lot. Steve liked the way Bucky would get embarrassed that he could answer most multiplication problems that Steve randomly threw at him in a few seconds flat. He liked how modest Bucky was about being insanely good with physics and engineering and how he was set to graduate the highest in his college class. He liked how Bucky pretended to be more confident than he actually was. Both of them seemed to not be thinking about their ex-boyfriends.

They went to a cafe and sat outside with coffee and bagels, enjoying the nice weather and each other's company.

Bucky finished his bagel and made a face. "There was a another reason I was so grouchy at Clint's party that night, not just because of Brock."

Steve wrapped his hands around his mug and wondered why this had suddenly come up. "Oh?"

Bucky stared down at the table. "I might have seen you walking with your friends at the pier that evening with the whole ghost train incident when I went to get Clint some pizza on my break."

Steve looked confused. "Okay?"

"And I might have thought that you were really cute."

Steve felt his cheeks heat up. "Oh."

"And I _might_ have scared you deliberately on the ghost train because I thought you were cute."

"I....Oh." Steve was trying to hold back a smile.

"And I might have told Clint that I thought you were cute after you punched me. _And_ he maybe talked Phil into bringing you to his stupid party and I had no idea you would be there. And...I got all nervous and acted like a jerk and regretted it."

Steve's face was burning but he was smiling like an idiot. "Oh."

Bucky finally looked up at him. "I'm sorry I acted like such a jerk."

Steve shrugged. "I don't think we need to apologize to each other any more."

Bucky smiled in relief and nodded. "Good. I uh, just wanted to tell you all that because...now that I know you, I think you're even cuter." He laughed softly.

"I think you're cute too." Steve hoped he sounded smoother than he felt.

"That's good to know," Bucky said and ran a hand through his hair with a grin. "Can I ask you out on a real date?"

"Yep, you can ask me. I'll say yes when you ask, just to give you a heads-up," Steve replied.

Bucky kicked him gently under the table. "Good to know."

***

Steve was meeting Bucky at the pier for their date when his shift at the ghost train ended. He walked towards the ride, excited and a little nervous. He saw Clint up ahead, head down, tapping out a message on his phone with a big goofy grin on his face; Steve thought he could guess who Clint was texting.

"Tell Phil he owes me a take-out and beer night," he said as he sidled up to the ticket booth.

Clint looked up and laughed. "Hey Steve," he held up his phone. "That obvious?"

Steve grinned. "A little."

Clint tucked his phone away and indicated to one of the empty cars on the track. "Hop in."

"Um, I'm meeting Bucky in like five minutes."

"Oh, I know," Clint said and smiled at Steve like he knew something he didn't. "Last ride of the evening."

Steve sighed and climbed into the car, raising his arms as Clint pulled the safety bar down. "Doesn't he remember what happened the last time I was on this thing?"

Clint snickered and sauntered back to the control panel. "I think it'll go a little differently this time." He waggled his fingers. "Have fun."

The car lurched forward and Steve took a breath as it went inside the ghost train and the doors shut behind him. He recognised the music from The Thing playing this time through the tinny speakers and didn't jump as much at the zombies that burst out of the wall. He managed to duck the tentacles that swung down from the ceiling too. He kept an eye out for a dark shape moving around as the car made it's way through the graveyard. Was Bucky actually in here?

Steve reached the corridor with the werewolf and the vampire and the car stopped and the lights went out, like it did before. His heart was pounding but not because he was scared. There was a sound to his right and there was Bucky, in all his skeletal spandex glory, his skull grinning in the darkness. The safety bar of the car popped up and before he knew it, he was being pulled out and stumbled along the track after Bucky, barely able to see a thing in the dark. A small door swung open and he was pulled into a narrow corridor lit by a dim red bulb. It looked like the behind-the-scenes area; there were a few fake crows scattered about and some kind of yeti slumped against the wall that obviously wasn't part of the ride any more. They were close together in the tight space but Steve wasn't in any hurry to move and Bucky didn't seem to be either.

Bucky pulled off his mask and grinned down at Steve, his hair mussed. "Hi," he said.

"So this is where you hang out when you're not scaring the punters? It's nice. Cosy. The red light makes it a little porny though."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Bucky said and Steve huffed out a little laugh and looked down.

"So..."

Bucky nodded. "So. Here we are."

Steve's heart was thumping. "Was there any particular plan to dragging me in here? Is this our date?"

Bucky narrowed his eyes. "I kind of didn't think that far ahead to be honest." He looked at Steve for a moment and then smiled.

"What's so funny?" Steve asked.

"Nothing. I just forget how short you are."

Steve bristled. "Great. Thanks for that."

Bucky leaned forward a little. "I didn't say I didn't _like_ it."

Steve glanced up at him. They were very close. "You like short guys?"

"Certain short guys. Short guys with blond hair, blue eyes and a mean left hook kind of do it for me."

Steve couldn't hold back his own smile. "That's a pretty specific kind of guy."

Bucky hummed in agreement. "Yep."

"I've got a thing for brunettes with blue eyes myself."

Bucky raised an eyebrow and rested his hand on the wall next to Steve's head. "Oh yeah?"

"Uh-huh. If they wear spandex to work, that's a big plus."

Bucky smirked and casually moved a little closer. "Hmm. I think I know a guy like that. Want me to put in a good word?"

"That would be great. Could you tell him that I think he's really amazing and I like him a lot?" Steve tipped his head back and watched Bucky's reaction.

Bucky blinked and looked down with a shy smile. "Um, I think I could pass that on."

Steve took Bucky's left hand, the one that wasn't resting against the wall, and gently placed it on his shoulder. "Could you also tell him that I'd really like to kiss him right about now?"

Bucky bit his lip. "Yeah, I think I can tell him that too."

Steve smiled and pulled Bucky down, kissing him softly and slowly, resting his hands on Bucky's waist. Bucky kissed him back, his hand moving from Steve's shoulder to his neck, stroking lightly. After a moment they pulled away and grinned at each other.

"That was much better than a punch in the face," Bucky said, brushing Steve's hair gently away from his forehead.

Steve laughed. "Yeah, we could have saved ourselves a lot of hassle if we had just done that first."

Bucky wrapped his arms around Steve, pulling him close again. "We're wasting valuable kissing time."

"Aren't we supposed to kiss at the _end_ of the date?"

"If you don't want to kiss me any more, just say and I'll - "

Steve yanked him in and shut him up.

A few minutes later, the walkie-talkie at Bucky's hip crackled and Clint spoke in an exaggerated whisper. "Bucky? Are you making out with Steve yet? Over."

***

"The Monster Mash."

Steve winced. "No. Uh-uh. Absolutely not."

Bucky rolled onto his side and grinned down at Steve. "Oh, come on - it's perfect! I was dressed as a monster when we met and you totally mashed me!"

"We are _not_ having The Monster Mash be our song. I'm putting my foot down. Why does our song even have to be monster or ghost related?"

"Because we met on the ghost train." Bucky said and nuzzled into Steve's neck.

"That's so dumb; we might as well have Thriller if that's all there's going to be to choosing a song. Let's just go with the Casper The Friendly Ghost song or the fucking Munster's theme tune while we're at it..." Steve smiled as Bucky laughed softly and kissed his neck, making his way up behind Steve's ear with his lips.

Bucky suddenly gasped and pulled away.

"What?" Steve asked.

"I've got it. I've got our song."

Steve groaned. "What?"

Bucky grinned wide and started to laugh. "Alice Cooper, Feed My Frankenstein."

Steve covered his face with his hands. "Oh my god, no! That's so bad. _So_ bad."

Bucky straddled Steve and started to sing. " _Well, I ain't evil, I'm just good lookin', Start a little fire, and baby start cookin'_..."

"No, please stop," Steve wailed as Bucky tried to pry Steve's hands away from his face.

" _I'm a hungry man but I don't want pizza, I'll blow down your house, and then I'm gonna eat ya_..." Bucky pinned Steve's arms either side of his head and leaned in, singing louder.

Steve started to laugh. "Buck, honestly, we are not having that as our - "

" _Feed my Frankenstein_..." Bucky was singing right into Steve's face, laughing with him.

Steve snaked his arms around Bucky's back and pulled him down, their legs tangling together. "That song doesn't even make any sense. It's Frankenstein's _monster_ not _a_ Frankenstein. You'd be feeding a scientist."

Bucky rubbed his nose against Steve's. "You're overthinking the meaning of the song..."

Steve kissed him and ran his hands slowly up and down Bucky's back. "It's a filthy song."

"Well, duh. His "Frankenstein" isn't his cat. Alice Cooper didn't write the song with housesitting in mind."

Steve grunted. "Well, just so we're clear, I'm not calling your dick Frankenstein."

Bucky collapsed on top of Steve in a fit of giggles. "Do you realize just how awesome you are?"

Steve grinned and leaned up for another kiss.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to say a huge thank you to anyone who has recced any of my fics over on Tumblr. I'm not on there but I'm very aware of when one of my stories has been added to a rec list and it's very much appreciated. I'm not very good at promoting myself and I'm always thrilled when someone likes one of my fics enough to share it with other people! :D


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